


I Can’t Come Back

by faerytold (orphan_account)



Category: Wanted (Australia TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 22:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20897138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/faerytold
Summary: Lola and Chelsea see Nathan.





	I Can’t Come Back

Lola nearly fell over when Chelsea pulled her back around the corner of the street they had been walking on. “What the hell, Chelsea,” Lola hissed. Chelsea was peering around the corner, eyes narrowed. 

“I thought I saw Nathan.”

Lola looked around the corner. “Which one? I want to see what you were settling for.” Chelsea gave Lola a withering stare. “What?” Lola asked. “You know you were. You are too good for him.”

Chelsea rolled her eyes but pointed him out anyway. Lola glanced between the man and Chelsea and back again once, twice, three times. Then she shook her head. “Why him?”

They watched as he played a game on his phone for a few minutes. With a shrug, Chelsea answered. “I don’t know. He was nice? He was fun to be around? He...” She sighed. “He was safe, mostly. There wasn’t much to disprove of.” Lola patted Chelsea’s shoulder and began to walk away, but Chelsea stood, transfixed. “You know, I tried talking to him about things. Even the embezzlement.” She gave a small laugh that was barely more than a puff of breath. “He didn’t care. I didn’t even get half a sentence out before he was talking about what he had going on.” She met Lola’s eye and then shook her head. “I don’t think he really knows I’m gone, unless he’s noticed he has to clean up his own messes now.”

“I can go punch him,” Lola jokingly offered. 

Chelsea shook her head. “No, that’s all on me. I should have...” She looked at Lola. “What was wrong with me? Petty theft of lipsticks. Living with a guy I didn’t even like like that. I embezzled just for the thrill of it! I was a mess, Lola.”

Lola glanced around, making sure no one was paying mind to their conversation. “No, Chelsea, you were restrained. Now you have the freedom to be yourself.” 

Chelsea scoffed, her mood rapidly declining. “Right. Myself. As one of Australia’s Most Wanted Women.” She sank to the sidewalk, her head in her shaking hands. Then she looked up at Lola. “I’m terrified, Lola. What if this isn’t me, either? What if this is Huntington’s taking over? What if I don’t have a self?”

Lola’s expression softened as she squatted to be level with her. “Chelsea,” she said, looking directly into her eyes. “You are yourself.” Chelsea opened her mouth to say something, but Lola charged ahead. “When you’re enjoying the moment, doing what you want to do and not worrying about how it will impress or disappoint someone else, that is you.” Lola cupped Chelsea’s cheek with her hand to stop her from looking away. “The woman who chose to save those girls instead of herself? That was you. The woman who saved my life? That was you. Haggling with a sexist pig because he insulted me? That was you.” Lola smiled, her eyes wrinkling. “Everything you’ve done, everything that has happened, is part of you.” Lola used the hand that was cupping Chelsea’s cheek to wipe away tears that were running down the younger woman’s face. “You’re an amazing, brilliant, beautiful, courageous, intelligent, special young woman.”

Chelsea threw herself at Lola, knocking them both to the ground. The moment didn’t last long, as they began to draw attention. Instead, they stood and brushed themselves off. As they began walking down the street, Lola wrapped an arm around Chelsea’s shoulder, and Chelsea responded with one around Lola’s waist. It wasn’t until they made it to away from the crowded street and to a secluded cafe that they spoke again. 

They sat, both with a gluten free muffin and overpriced coffee in paper cups. “Lola,” Chelsea said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you. Not just for today, but for everything.” She swallowed and took a deep breath. “I’m so lucky to have you in my life. I love you.”

Lola smiled softly. “I love you, too, Chelsea.”

They looked out the window, at the sun setting across the city, and took just a few moments of knowing they would never go back to the lonely lives they had led before.


End file.
